My character has a very unusual name but has chosen to be known by the most boring, run-of-the-mill name she can think of. I'm conducting a straw poll to see what names people think of when they hear that brief...
How old is the character? Dull names tend to be common names, which change from generation to generation. If she's in her 40s, then Claire, 30s Nicola, 20s and under Chloe.
I apologise to anyone with these names. Thank you all! For what it's worth, the character is 32 and was born and raised in England. But she chooses her "boring" name to annoy her parents, who gave her a very "out there" name, so it can really be from any era.
I think I'd have gone with Ann if my author name wasn't Anna. I wonder what it says about me that I chose a boring name?
Ann for me. Also Mary. Of the names that's not mentioned yet, I also find the name Susan pretty boring.
Lucy Hannah Michelle In the Czech Republic, it feels like the whole nation recycles through about 20 names Interestingly though, the mothers with tiny babies seem to all have given their kid more unusual names. Other boring names: Mary Ann Betty Susan May ^this little list is actually from my English textbook in Hong Kong I nearly named myself Mary because those were the only English names I knew and I hated all of them, with Mary being the least of all evils Thankfully my mum didn't like Mary either, so it got discarded in the end! What else, what else... Jane Joanna Jennifer Christine / Christina Don't get me wrong, most of these are quite pretty - but they're also pretty ordinary
Ethel, Esther, Enid, Agnes... names like that. Always make me think of some stuffy old lady with a jar full of thirty year hard candy.
My sister is called Agnes! We call her Aggy Somehow I don't think of her as Agnes at all really... ETA: I thought it was really funny when I discovered the word "agony" as well. I wanted to call her Agnes the Agony... (I was 8 or 9, all right!? )
Sarah. I know someone who named their new baby Sarah not so long ago, and when I heard it I privately remarked to my husband that the name Sarah always conjurs up in my mind a blank piece of paper. Not in the exciting, endless-possibilities kind of way. Just a boring, plain as plain, unremarkable white leaf of paper. Sarah is my #1 pick for boring. Jane is the stereotypical boring name but so seldom used nowadays that it's become almost unique again. So depending on when this takes place, it could or could not be incredibly common. Some others: Susan Patty Amy
For boring names, I go back a generation or two from my own... Mabel, Dierdre, Constance, Matilda... But eventually, even old tired-out names come back into vogue. My niece just called her daughter Matilda and I was all, "What were you thinking?" whereas everyone else went, "Aw! What a wonderful name." Also, I'd caution you not to go too far. I've sworn never to use the name John (for instance) because there are far too many Johns in literature already... as well as in real life... out there on the streets at night looking for hookers and whatnot.
